Devil's Army

After being ambushed and retreating, the Japanese Eighth Division gathered its forces and launched two consecutive attacks on Shishan, but both were unsuccessful.

The Japanese 8th Division soon withdrew to Huadu County.

After the battle, Deputy Commander Du gave a summary of the Japanese army's counterattack in Guangzhou.

He believed that although the Japanese counterattack was huge, the number of troops was small. The Japanese troops in each attack direction were on the scale of 2 to 4 squadrons.

From this he judged that the Japanese attack this time was mainly exploratory.

The facts are just as Deputy Commander Du judged.

Commander Sakai Takashi's attack on Nankai County this time was mainly to test the coordination between the Devil Forces' air force and infantry.

After probing, he found that the coordination between the Devil's air force and infantry was relatively mature.

When the infantry came under heavy bombardment or encountered danger and the defense line was in danger of being breached, their air force would quickly come to support them.

In order to reduce casualties among the attacking forces, he decided to wait until the end of the Third Battle of Changsha and then apply to the Army Department for the Third Air Force Division to come to reinforce.

It was early January 1942, and Commander Zhang realized that the Japanese army was losing the third Changsha battle. He estimated that the Japanese army would end the third Changsha battle in defeat. So he ordered Deputy Commander Du to start the battle to recapture Xiamen and Shantou.

Part of the 2nd Regiment of the 3rd Division was on standby in Xiangshan County (Zhuhai) and Zhongshan County, and the 3rd Regiment immediately set out.

Before the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment arrived in Xiamen, the 1st Army's air force had already arrived. They strafed the Japanese troops at the Takasaki military airport that was being built by the Japanese.

The civilian laborers who were captured by the Japanese army to build the airport saw that the Japanese army was being strafed by the First Army fighter planes and had no time to take care of them, so they quickly fled in all directions.

When the pilots of the First Army bomber planes saw that the civilians had all fled, they immediately launched a fierce bombing on the Japanese troops in the airport and the runway and apron that were under construction.

The First Army Air Force destroyed the Takasaki military airport that was under construction by the Japanese army and then sailed away.

After the First Army Air Force returned, the Japanese troops in Xiamen were still licking their wounds, while the Third Battalion of the Second Regiment of the Third Division had already captured Huizhou County and continued to advance towards Xiamen.

The Third Regiment of the Third Division was also attacking the important coastal city, Shanwei.

When the Third Regiment arrived at Longgang Town, Bao'an County, it was ambushed by Japanese troops lying in wait in Henggang and Buji.

After defeating the Japanese ambush at the Buji residential area in Henggang, the Japanese army retreated to the hills on the small road and continued to block the attack of the Third Regiment.

However, the two Japanese squads behind the hill were no match for the Third Regiment.

The Third Regiment launched a mortar bombardment, and the soldiers broke through the Japanese defense line with a charge.

Then they chased and fought fiercely all the way to the city of Huiyang County.

At this time, Huiyang County had been recaptured by the Nanjing government forces, and the 187th Division of the Southern Government Army was stationed in Huiyang County.

After negotiating with the southern government forces, the third regiment commander took his troops to Huiyang County for rest.

The next morning we arrived outside Haifeng County.

At this time, only the Nanjing government army security corps offered sporadic resistance in Haifeng County, and actual control was in the hands of the Japanese army.

The third regiment commander was still discussing the plan to capture Haifeng County with the officers in the regiment at the headquarters when the guard came over to report:

An officer who claimed to be from the Nanjing government army asked to see the commander of the Third Regiment.

He is a real man if he can persist in resisting the Japanese invaders while being chased and blocked by them.

The third regiment commander asked the officers to continue the discussion while he went to meet the Nanjing government army officer.

Arriving at the reception room, the Nanjing government army officer saluted the third regiment commander and said:

"Hello, Commander Zhang! I am He Wuzhu, the commander of the Nanjing government army's Haifeng Security Corps."

"Oh, you are the security team that blew up the Zhalang Lighthouse a few days ago."

Captain He nodded.

"What do you want to see me for?"

"I came here to introduce the Japanese defense situation in Haifeng County to you, and I also want to discuss something with you, Commander Zhang."

"What is it? Please tell me?"

"Our security group wants to work with you to drive the Japanese troops out of Haifeng County, and then we will be in charge of garrisoning Haifeng County."

The Third Regiment Commander really looked down on the Security Corps' combat power. However, their goal was to eliminate the Japanese troops at Shantou Airport, so it would not be a big deal to let them garrison Haifeng County.

So the third captain nodded in agreement.

At noon that day, the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Regiment pinned down the main force of the Japanese army in Haifeng County from the front. The security regiment led by Captain He led two battalions of the 3rd Regiment into Haifeng County from a small road and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese army in the front.

After more than half an hour of fierce fighting, most of the Japanese troops in Haifeng County were killed and a small part were defeated.

Haifeng County was handed over to the Nanjing government army security regiment for garrison, and the third regiment commander led his troops to continue advancing towards Shanwei City.